Wire-fence-stapling machine.



PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

, IIa/@Mr MW/@v y E. EAGSDALE. WIEE EENCE STEEEIEE` MACHINE.

` APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1904.

- fue UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERscHEL RAGSDALE, or LIBERAL, MISSOURI, AsSIGNoR or ONE-HALF To WILLIAM v. RRADEN, or LIBERAL, MISSOURI.

WIRE-FENCE-STAPLING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filed (fune 30, 1904. Serial No. 214,838.

To all, whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERSCHEL RAGSDALE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Liberal, in the county of Barton and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Wire- Fence-Stapling Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to wire-fencestapling machines, and has for its object to produce a machine of this character which provides a magazine to carry a large number of staples, is equipped with means to automatically feed the staples toward their point of delivery, has means for locking the automatic feeding mechanism from operation, and which is provided with a spring-actuated delivery slide-plate for pickingv up the staples one at a time and disposing them in position to be driven into a fence-postor other support. l

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of' a wire-fencestapling machine embodying'my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section taken on the line III III of Fig. 2.

In carrying out the invention a strip of metal notched centrally at one end is bent to U form to produce ythe elongated magazine 1, having a recess 1a formed in the upper end of its front wall by bending the plate in line with said notch.

2 designates a U-shaped plate fitting in the lower end of the magazine and forming a bottom therefor, the walls of the plate 2 being secured to the magazine by rivets 3.

4 designates a nose-piece, substantially in the form of an inverted U and riveted, as shown, or otherwise secured upon the upper ends of the side walls of the magazine, said nose-piece in side view being narrower than the magazine, for a purpose which hereinafter appears. The slot or space 5 between the arms 6 and 7 of the nose-piece registers with the passage of the magazine, but is considerably narrower than the latter for the major portion of its length, aring downwardly at 8 and 9 until its lower end is of the same Width as and iush with the upper end of said passage, as shownclearly in Fig. 2, the arms 6 and 7 at such lower end being preferably notched, as at 10 and 11, to snugly receive the upper ends of the magazine-walls. Arm 7 of the nose-piece is of materially greater thickness by prefer'ence than arm 6, so that its inner side shall be approximately in line with the center of the magazine-passage, and in said inner side of said arm is formed a longitudinal groove 12. Riveted, as at 13, in the upper end of said groove is a iiat spring 14:, which normally curves downwardly and meets arms 6 just above the iiaring lower end of passage 5 and from said meetingpoint curves rearwardly and downwardly, as at 15, and terminates at a point approximately in line with the inner side of arm 7 and about midway the length of the flaring portion of the space or slot 5. A

Opposite spring 14: arm 6 is A provided with a longitudinal slot 16, through which projects the hook end 18 of tongue 19 of slide-plate 20, fitting iiatly against the outer side of the righthand wall of the magazine, the lower Iend of said slide-plate being provided with the outwardly-projecting arm 21, to which is riveted the downwardly-projecting thumb-piece or handle 272. The slide-plate is provided with a longitudinal slot 23,mounted upon the guidepin 211,- projecting from the magazine, and bearing against said slide-plate and mounted on said pin is awasher 25, an expansive spring 26, also upon said pin, pressing the washer against the slide-plate, so as to hold the latter with a yielding pressure Hatly against the magazine.

27 designates a rod extending loosely through arm 21 and thumb-piece 22 of the slide-plate and engaging at its upper end the pin 24C, forward of the head of the latter and the spring 26, so that the outer end of the spring by preference bears against said rod,

the lower end of said rod being secured rigidly to an angle-plate 29, secured to the magazine, a coil-spring 30, mounted on said rod and bearing at its opposite ends against plate 29 and the lower side of arm 21, tending to force the slide-plate yieldingly upward to the positionshown.

31 designates a guide-rod secured rigidly at its lower end to the bottom of the magazine and disposed about centrally of the curved portion thereof, said rod tapering upwardly to a point from about the base of the notch IOO IOS

lu and terminating contiguous to the lower end of spring 14 and in about the same vertical plane, and pivoted to the front side of the magazine is a cap 33, which extends upwardly beyond the upper end of the magazine, converging from the base of notch 1a rearwardly toward and terminating contiguous to the upper end of the guide-rod 31, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, said cap offering a yielding resistance to the ejectment ofthe staples from the magazine by the spring-actuated feedplate hereinafter described.

34 designates an angular feed-plate fitting snugly in the magazine and having its horizontal arm fitting slidingly on the guide-rod, the vertical arm of said feedplate being widened at the rear side of the magazine, so as to provide the vertical shoulders 35 to bear against the rear edges of the magazine side walls to insure direct reciprocatory action.

The feed-plate is provided, by preference, with a shoulder 36 for conveniently depressing it and is also provided with an inwardlyprojecting pin 37 for engagement at times with the downwardly-disposed hook portion 39 of a flat spring 38, secured at its lower end to a side wall of the magazine, said downwardly-disposed spring-hook, as it is hereinafter termed, bearing such relation to the pin that when the feed-plate is drawn downward it will repress said spring, so that the latter will springinward in theupward movement of said pin, and thus lock the feed-plate from upward movement. To effect upward movement of the feed-plate, a coil-spring 40 is mounted on the guide-rod and bears at its opposite ends against the bottom ofthe magazine and the lower side of the feed-plate.

When it is desired to charge the magazine with staples 41, the feed-plate is lowered until automatically locked against upward movement by the downwardly-disposed springhook. The cap 33 is then swung pivotally aside, so as to expose the notch 1a and permit the operator to slide staples, one at a time, into the magazine until their bridge portions strike the upper end of and are strung upon theguide-rod. They are then released and drop down to a horizontal position until arrested by the feed-plate, the staples piling one upon the other, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, because the space is so narrow that they must assume this relation. The cap is then returned to its original position. When the operator is ready to drive the staples in the fence, he first projects his thumb in the magazine from the rear or open side and represses springhook 39 to permit the spring 40 to push the feed-plate upwardly until the topmost staple assumes approximately the position shown in Figs. 2and 3. He then places his thumb upon thumb-piece 22 and forces the same downward against the resistance of spring 30 until the hook end 18 of the slide-plate snaps between the two topmost staples. The thumbpiece is then released and spring 30 forces the slide-plate upwardly. In the initial part of this upward movement the topmost staple is tilted upward and toward the rear and engages the overlying portion 15 of spring 14 and forces said spring back in the groove 12 and holds the same in such position until the uppermost leg of said tilted staple registers with or passes into the narrow, portion of the slot or space 5, by which time the other leg of said staple has been drawn upward past the end 15 of spring 14, the staple being gradually tilted more and more in the direction indicated by the engagement of its lower arm with the rear side of `the downwardly-tapering portion of slot 5, as will be readily understood. As said lower leg of the staple passes above the lower end of spring 14 the latter presses said leg to a position in vertical alinement with the topmost leg, and it continues in such position until the slide-plate has attained its limit of upward movement, when owing to the fact that the nose is narrower from front to rear than the magazine, the bridge or closed end of the staple projects forwardly from said end, so that it can be given a slight tap with a hammer after its pointed ends have been fitted over a wire (not shown) to be secured to a fence-post to embed it in the latter. The operator then places his thumb upon the thumbpiece 22 and draws the slide-plate downwardly until its hooked end 18 is disengaged from the staple. The machine is then pulled forwardly from engagement with the staple and the latter is driven home. All subsequent operations are repetitions of those described until the supply of staples in the magazine has been eX- hausted, when the machine is again recharged and is then ready for action.

The slide-plate, as described, is caused by the spring 26 to dispose its hook end 18 between the topmost pair of staples each time it attains its lowest limit of movement; but it is to be understood the same action of the slide-plate can be obtained by constructing its tongue 19 of resilient material, so that said tongue may spring into the space below the topmost staple without necessitating the use of the spring 26, in other words, without necessitating the body portion of the slide to operate pivotally on its guide-pin 24.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a wire-fencestapling machine which possesses the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the object of the invention and which obviously may be modified in its form,

proportion, detail construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of construction involved.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A stapling-machine, comprising a maga- IOO zine, a nose secured to one end thereof and provided with a slot communicating with the magazine-passage and having its connecting end flaring toward said passage, a guide-rod extending longitudinally of the magazine within its passage, a depending spring secured to the nose at one side of its slot and converging downward toward the opposite side and then diverging away Jfrom the last-named side and terminatingjust above and approximately in line with the top of said guide-rod, means to support staples threaded on said guide-rod, and means to successively remove said staples and dispose them in the slot of the nose in a position substantially at right angles to that which they .occupied in the magazine.

2. A stapling-machine, comprising a magazine, a nose secured to one end thereof and provided with a slot communicating with the magazine-passage and having its connecting end flaring toward said passage, a guide-rod extending longitudinally of the magazine within its passage, a depending spring secured to the nose at one side of its slot and converging downward toward the opposite side and then diverging away from the last-named side and terminating just above and approximately in line with the top of said guide-rod, means to support staples threaded on said guide-rod, means for yieldingly elevating the staplesupporting means, and means to successively remove said staples and dispose them in the slot ot' the nose in a position substantially at right angles to that4 which they occupied in the magazine.

3. A stapling-machine, comprising a magazine, a nose secured to one end thereof and provided with a slot communicating with the magazine-passage and having its connecting end tlaring toward said passage, a guide-rod extending longitudinally of the magazine within its passage, a depending spring secured to the nose at one side of its slot and converging downward toward the opposite side and then diverging away from the last-named side and terminating just above and approximately in line with the top of said guide-rod, means to support staples threaded4 on said guide-rod,

means for yieldingly elevating the staplesupporting means, means to lock said staple.

, supporting means from upward movement,

and means, when the staple-supporting means is free to move upward, for successively removing said staples and disposing them in the slot of the nose in a position substantially at right angles to that which they occupied in the magazine. i y

4t. A stapling-machine, comprising a magazine, a nose secured to one end thereof and provided with a slot communicating with the magazine-passage and having its connecting end flaring toward said passage, a guide-rod extending longitudinally of the magazine within its passage, a depending spring secured to the nose at one side of its slot and converging downward toward the opposite side and then diverging away from the last-named side and terminating just above and approximately in line with the top of said guide-rod` means to support staples threaded on said guide-rod,

and a reciprocatory plate having a hook terminal projecting yieldingly into the path of movement of the staples to remove the topmost one and dispose it in a position substan-r stantially at right angles to its original position in the slot of the nose.

5. Astapling-machine, comprising a magazine, a nose secured to one end thereof and provided with a slot communicating with the magazine-passage and having its connecting end Haring toward said passage, a guide-rod extending longitudinally ofthe magazine within its passage, a depending spring secured to the nose at one side of its slot and converging downward toward the opposite side and then diverging away from the last-named side and terminating just above and approximately in i line with the top of said guide-rod, means to support staples threaded on said guide-rod, a slide-plate having a hook-terminal projecting yieldingly into the path of movement of the staples, and means for yieldingly elevating said slide-plate, so as to raise the topmost staple and dispose it in a position substantially at right angles to its original position in the slot oi' the nose.

6. A stapling-rnachin@comprisinganiagazine, a nose portion at one end of the magazine, provided with a slot communicating with the magazine-passage and flared toward said passage at the point of connection therewith, yielding means opposing the entrance of the staples into the slot of the nose portion, and means arranged to reciprocate on and lengthwise of the machine, for engaging one leg of the staple nearest said slot and pushing said staple therein against the resistance of said yielding means.

7. A stapling-machine, comprising a magazine, a nose portionv at one end of the magazine, provided with a slot registering with the magazine-passage and flared toward said passage at the point of connection therewith, a reciprocatory slide having a resilient end adapted to successively remove staples from said passage and dispose them in the slot of the nose portion, and yielding means to permit a staple to enter the slot when pushed by said slide. i

8. A stapling-machine, comprising a magazine, a nose portion at one end of the magazine, provided with a slot registering with the magazine-passage and flared toward said passage at the point of connection therewith, Y a guide-rod extending longitudinally of and within the magazine-passage, a cap converg- IOO IIO

ing upward with the rod to prevent the acci- Y passage at the point of connection therewith,

a spring-actuated feed-plate underlying the staples 1n the magazlne-passage, means to hold the same retracted, means to successivelyT remove staples from the magazine when the feed-plate is free to advance, and yielding 15 means to permit a staple to enter the slot when pushed from the magazine-passage by the said staple-removing means.

In testimony WhercofI have hereunto signed my name to this the above speciiication. Done 2O in the presence of two Witnesses subscribing their respective names hereto.

HERSGHEL RAGSDALE. Witnesses:

G. H. WALSER. ALTA V. MAYER. 

